Sunday, November 25, 2012

Dear Stephen Harper: Most Canadians Don't Give A Crap About The Monarchy And The War of 1812 ... but we love Public Health Care!!!

OTTAWA - Canadians, it seems, love their universal health care. The monarchy? Not so much.

A new national poll commissioned by the Montreal-based
Association for Canadian Studies examined the pride Canadians place in a
list of more than a dozen symbols, achievements and attributes.

The online survey of 2,207 respondents by Leger
Marketing found universal health care was almost universally loved,
with 94 per cent calling it an important source of collective pride —
including 74 per cent who called it "very important."

At the other end of the spectrum, just 39 per
cent of respondents felt the monarchy was a source of personal or
collective pride, while 59 per cent were royally unimpressed. In fact,
32 per cent of respondents found the monarchy "not at all important" —
the most popular singular response.

The findings provide an interesting snapshot of
the country after seven years under a Stephen Harper government that's
made a priority of promoting its own blend of nation-building symbols.The military, the Arctic, sports and the
monarchy have been staples of Conservative messaging almost from the
time Harper took office early in 2006.

More recently, the government has spent more
than $100 million over the past four years on jaunty "economic action
plan" advertising in concert with a constant refrain from Conservatives
about Canada's relative prosperity in a battered global economy.

"They've definitely had mixed results," said Jack Jedwab, the executive director of the Association for Canadian Studies.

"The monarchy doesn't resonate well at all." [...] "One of the ones that does really well — the Canadian Charter of
Rights and Freedoms — is one the government was more hesitant about,"
said Jedwab.

The Conservatives consciously downplayed this
year's 30th anniversary of the Charter, choosing to mark the occasion
with a simple press release.

By contrast, the government has budgeted more
than $28 million to mark the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812, a
multi-year program that includes everything from TV advertising to
upgrading historic sites and striking commemorative coins.

Alas, the historic series of battles between
the British and the Americans came in near the bottom of the Leger
online survey, albeit still far ahead of the monarchy in perceived
importance."Winnipeg Free Press